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The 49-year-old man has been identified as Paul Machettia of the City of Poughkeepsie.
Macchettia entered the water to help after one of five people who entered the Hudson River began to struggle to stay afloat. The swimmer who was in distress recovered by Machettia failed to resurface.
At about noontime on Tuesday, the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office responded to the Hudson River off of Victor C. Waryas Park to assist the City of Poughkeepsie Police Department and Fire Department after receiving a report of a missing swimmer.
The Sheriff’s Office deployed two patrol boats and the Regional Underwater Search and Recovery Team to assist the City of Poughkeepsie with the search.
In addition to the Sheriff’s boats, the City of Poughkeepsie Fire Department boat and two boats from the U.S. Coast Guard conducted surface searches.
Police also conducted underwater searches utilizing both Sheriff’s divers and sonar technology deployed by the New York State Police.
Air support was provided by New York State Police Aviation and the United States Coast Guard.
As of 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, the search was temporarily suspended.
The Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office, Ulster County Sheriff’s Office and New York State Police are scheduled to resume the search at 8 a.m. Wednesday.
Those agencies continue to assist the City of Poughkeepsie Police with this investigation.
The Sheriff’s Office issued an advisory to area residents to always wear a personal flotation device (PFD) whenever they swim in the Hudson River.
"The currents in the river are strong and swimmers can become fatigued easily," the sheriff's office said.
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